Luke's History

[Luke Martin]

Earth
4th August 2451

To say Luke had been a nerd would have been an understatement. He took as many classes as he was able, excelled in all, including gym class, was part of the chess and science clubs, head of the book club, and periodically won or placed highly at science fairs and competitions. However, in his spare time, he enjoyed taking part in sports and activities; boxing, rock climbing, and swimming. And, when he was on holiday, he enjoyed trying new water sports. This time it was surfing, and although he had fallen off his board several times already, he felt he was getting the hang of it. He hoped so anyway, as this would be his last holiday on the Gold Coast before before his family moved to America. He wanted to make the most of it.

Luke was floating in the water, his arms crossed across the surf board as he gazed out into the open water. He couldn't believe he was leaving this behind. His sisters were back on the beach, giggling and burying each other in the sand - Jen was eight and Georgie was four. When they called his name, he turned, but was distracted for a moment - a flash of long, dark hair caught his eye. His blue eyes followed the girl, she looked to be his age; he couldn't take his eyes off her, she was so pretty. His sisters screamed his name louder and he had to tear himself away from staring at the girl to see them jumping and waving, their parents chuckling in the background. When he looked back round to see where the girl was, she was nowhere to be seen.

[Luke Martin]

Earth
21st January 2453

Bullying was still common place in schools the world over, even after all these years. Luke was no stranger to being bullied, he'd been pushed and shoved around by kids of all ages for various reasons; his glasses, his clothes, his stature, his accent, his academic achievements, whatever reason they could get their grubby little mitts on. He tried to ignore it and pretend it didn't effect him, but it did - he was the older brother of two beautiful, young, popular girls, and he felt like he was treated like dirt. It had got worse when they moved to America, now he didn't have any of his old friends supporting him - the first few months had been a living hell. Especially seeing as none of the teachers seemed able to help him.

It wasn't like he couldn't defend himself, be he was supposed to be the better man, rise above it all and not retaliate. But he was tiring, close to cracking, and God help anyone who got in his way.

Luke was using the thumb print ID pad to open his locker when a kid twice his size elbowed him in the back, shoving him face first into the row of lockers. The pain was momentary before the adrenaline kicked in - Luke wheeled round to grab the jerk's back pack, slamming him with some force against the lockers. Dazed, the bully tried to swing a punch but Luke ducked, getting a punch in to the bully's abdomen before hitching his forearm under the bully's chin and forcing him back against the lockers, crushing his larynx.

"You think you can push me around, huh?" The bully choked and gurgled, unable to speak. "You think you can bully me and get away with it? Well, not anymore." Something resembling fear cross the bully's face. "You and all your friends are going to leave me alone. You are not going to come within a ten square foot radius of me without my permission, you or your buddies, you hear me?" The bully nodded.

Luke eased off his grip before letting the bully go. He turned to look at the crowd that had gather as they began to murmur and disperse. He had a feeling they got the message.